Proverbs 6:9 [NIV]

How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?

Tips For Sleeping Well

Try these simple steps to help improve the quality of your sleep. But remember, if problems persist you should see your doctor:

• Obey your body clock: set a routine for yourself and try to go to bed and get up at about the same time every day.


• Don’t go to bed when you’re not tired: this will just reinforce bad sleeping habits.
  
• Get enough sunshine; exposure to light helps set your body clock.


• Ensure your room is dark enough.


• Only use your bedroom for sleeping and sex.


• Don’t use it like a second lounge room for watching TV or talking on the phone — and be sure not to work, worry or argue there.


• Exercise every day — a tired body is more likely to sleep.


• Try and use the last hour of the day to relax.


• Don’t do anything too stimulating.


• Avoid caffeinated drinks close to bedtime.


• And while alcohol might make you feel sleepy at first it’s also worth avoiding, as it tends to disrupt your sleep.


• If you can’t sleep within a reasonable amount of time, get out of bed and do something quiet for half an hour, like reading a book.


• If all else fails, see your doctor for further help.

Image: Laurence Mouton/Photo Alto
This article last reviewed July 2008

When ?

all the days of my life !

Goodness and Mercy Will Follow Me

Surely Goodness and Mercy

will follow Me

all the days of my life!

All the Days of my life

I will be hemmed in before by grace and behind

by goodness and mercy.

And I shall dwell

in the House of the Lord

forever.

My Cup Runneth Over!

Isn't it Amazing?

How Fun and Awesome it is

as my cup runneth over.

Psalm 23 - The Message

Psalm 23
[A David Psalm]

1-3 God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.

You have bedded me down in lush meadows,

you find me quiet pools to drink from.

True to your word,

you let me catch my breath

and send me in the right direction.

4 Even when the way goes through Death Valley,

I'm not afraid

when you walk at my side.

Your trusty shepherd's crook

makes me feel secure.

5 You serve me a six-course dinner

right in front of my enemies.

You revive my drooping head;

my cup brims with blessing.

6 Your beauty and love chase after me

every day of my life.

I'm back home in the house of God

for the rest of my life.

John 10:3 [NIV]

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View commentary related to this passage
The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

God Leads His Dear Children Along (Vocals)

http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/God_Leads_Us_Along/lofi/

Psalm 51:12 [NIV]

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:11-13 (in Context) - Psalm 51 (Whole Chapter)

Psalm 23:2

The New King James Version

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures . . .

Psalm 63:6

The New International Version

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6 On my bed I remember you;

I think of you through the watches of the night.

Isaiah 28:12

The New International Version

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12 to whom he said,

"This is the resting place, let the weary rest";

and, "This is the place of repose"—

but they would not listen.

Job 30:16-19

The Message

16-19 "And now my life drains out,

as suffering seizes and grips me hard.

Night gnaws at my bones;

the pain never lets up.

I am tied hand and foot,

My neck in a noose.

I twist and turn.

Thrown facedown

In the muck,

I'm a muddy mess, inside and out.

Deuteronomy 12:8-9

New King James Version

8 “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— 9 for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you.

1 Timothy 1:13

New International Version (NIV)

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13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

1 Corinthians 5:17

New International Version (NIV)

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17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Dear Friend Young and Old Alike,

Dear Friend, young and old alike need Jesus Christ.

Many of us for a long time lived without Jesus

Many of us have memories we wish were not there in our past, unfortunately they are part of us, they make up our story. There was a day when Jesus met you and made you a New Creations. 2 Corinthians 5:17

We must give thanks to God for saving us, not just from the world, but from ourselves.

The apostle Paul looked back and remembered his past, and wondered why did I do all those things?

He then answered his own question! Because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 1 Timothy 1:13.

Dear friend don’t dwell on your past it will destroy you.

Praise God for your future, that you will not die without Jesus. Salvation is so important, that when one soul is delivered from this world of sin that the very angels in heaven rejoice over that one saved soul.

Pray for The Home Gospel

Psalm 23 [NKJV]

Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD

Forever.

Mark 4:39 [NIV]

Listen to this passage

39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!"

Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

Psalm 46:10 [NIV]

Listen to this passage

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

Zechariah 2:23 [NIV]

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13 "Be still before the LORD, all mankind,

because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling."

Psalm 37:7 [NIV]

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7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when men succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Exodus 14:14 [NIV]

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14 "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Psalm 32:7 [NIV]

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You are my hiding place;

you will protect me from trouble

and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Selah

Come To The Water

John 3:5

Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit. [The Message]

Beautiful Feet

Isaiah 52:7

New International Version (NIV)

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

Isaiah 52:6-8 (in Context) Isaiah 52 (Whole Chapter)

1 John 1:5-7

The Message (MSG)
View commentary related to this passage

Walk in the Light. This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him. If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth—we're not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin.

Commentary on 1 John 1:5-7 (Matthew Henry)

1 John 1:5-7.

The great God should be represented to this dark world, as pure and perfect light. As this is the nature of God, his doctrines and precepts must be such. And as his perfect happiness cannot be separated from his perfect holiness, so our happiness will be in proportion to our being made holy.

To walk in darkness, is to live and act against religion. God holds no heavenly fellowship or intercourse with unholy souls. There is no truth in their profession; their practice shows its folly and falsehood. (However), the eternal Life, the eternal Son, . . . procures for us the sacred influences by which sin is to be subdued more and more, till it is quite done away.

While the necessity of a holy walk is insisted upon, as the effect and evidence of the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus, the opposite error of self-righteous pride is guarded against with equal care.

All who walk near to God, in holiness and righteousness, are sensible that their best days and duties are mixed with sin. ... (In the Light) the sinfulness of believers ... is shown, ... requiring them continually to confess their sins, and to apply by faith to the blood of that Sacrifice.

Let us plead guilty before God, be humble, and willing to know the worst of our case. Let us honestly confess all our sins in their full extent, relying wholly on his mercy and truth through the righteousness of Christ, for a free and full forgiveness, and our deliverance from the power and practice of sin.

About this commentary:

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible is available in the Public Domain.

(emphasis mine)

Psalm 8 - The Message

A David Psalm

God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name.

Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
and silence atheist babble.

I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?

Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden's dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.

God, brilliant Lord,
your name echoes around the world.

Psalm 8 - New King James Version

To the Chief Musician.
On the instrument of Gath.

A Psalm of David.

O LORD, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name
in all the earth,
Who have set Your
glory above the heavens!
Out of the mouth of babes
and nursing infants
You have ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence
the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars,
which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man
that You visit him?
For You have made him
a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him
with glory and honor.
You have made him to have
dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things
under his feet,
All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through
the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name
in all the earth!

Psalm 8 - New International Version

For the director of music.
According to gittith.

A Psalm of David.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8

The New International Version

The New King James Version

The Message

No One Is Good Except God

Ecclesiasties 7:20

Matthew 19:17
Mark 10:18
Luke 18:19

Romans 3:12
Psalm 14:2-3
Psalm 53:2-3

1 John 3:4-6

Possible Dynamics of the Three Cures for Quaker Meetings

. . . . new methods flow out of vision and passion. On the other hand, it might also be possible that new methods open up hearts to a new vision and passion for Jesus.

The important thing, however, is to maintain a biblical vision and biblical passion for a biblical transformation.

**John Williams, Jr. - from closing remarks at The Evangelical Friends Church International Council, July 27, 2008 [as reported by Ron Stansell, THE VOICE, December 2008]

The Cure To The Three Barriers Within Quaker Meetings

A new vision for the world can overcome tribalism.
A new passion for Christ can overcome nominalism.
A new transformation of the Holy Spirit can overcome traditionalism.

(How They Work)


**John Williams, Jr. - from closing remarks at The Evangelical Friends Church International Council, July 27, 2008 [as reported by Ron Stansell, THE VOICE, December 2008]

John Williams, Jr. Challenge to the Quaker Churches

A Challenge to Overcome Three Barriers That Can Appear Anywhere in the World:

Tribalism - (interest in the inner group);
Nominalism - (being Christian in name only);
Traditionalism (holding to old ways with a refusal to adapt.

A new vision for the world can overcome tribalism.
A new passion for Christ can overcome nominalism.
A new transformation of the Holy Spirit can overcome traditionalism.

. . . new methods flow out of vision and passion. On the other hand, it might also be possible that new methods open up hearts to a new vision and passion for Jesus.

The important thing, however, is to maintain a biblical vision and biblical passion for a biblical transformation.

**John Williams, Jr. - from closing remarks at The Evangelical Friends Church International Council, July 27, 2008 [as reported by Ron Stansell, THE VOICE, December 2008]

"Take My Life" by Micah Stampley

A Reflection Through Music

Micah Stampley widget by 6L & Daxii

Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"

- -For Further Reflection Read The Lyrics While Listening To The Music- -

"Hallelujah"

Now I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music, do you?

It goes like this

The fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you

To a kitchen chair

She broke your throne, and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

I know that I've have been here before

I know this room, I've walked this floor

I used to live alone before I knew you.

I've seen your flag on the marble arch

Love is not a victory march

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah,

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you let me know

What's really going on below

But now you never show it to me, do you?

And remember when I moved in you

The holy dove was moving too

And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain

I don't even know the name

But if I did, well really, what's it to you?

There's a blaze of light

In every word

It doesn't matter which you heard

The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much

I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch

I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you

And even though

It all went wrong

I'll stand before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah

YouTube Comment - Adrian 22

"It's, as I say, a desire to affirm my faith in life, not in some formal religious way but with enthusiasm, with emotion.... It's a rather joyous song." ~ Leonard Cohen, creator of the song, Hallelujah. He says: "I wanted to write something in the tradition of the hallelujah choruses but from a different point of view... It's the notion that there is no perfection ~ that this is a broken world and we live with broken hearts and broken lives but still that is no alibi for anything. On the contrary, you have to stand up and say hallelujah under those circumstances."

Canadian indie singer-songwriter Allison Crowe's uniquely potent interpretation is heard on her album, "Tidings".

(The song enjoys increasingly wide appreciation - even marching into the mainstream in 2008 with a tv performance by American Idol contestant Jason Castro and by UK X Factor winner Alexandra Burke. Leonard Cohen himself has been inspiring audiences on tour this year - he performed Hallelujah as the sun set on Glastonbury 2008.)

"It's not hard to see why Crowe's Hallelujah -- recorded in a single take -- is popular. It's one of Leonard Cohen's most affecting songs, and the 26-year-old, accompanying herself on piano, makes it her own with raw honesty and formidable vocal power. It's simultaneously heart-breaking and redemptive, and it has captured the imaginations of people around the world. 'The song itself is just so emotionally resonant,' Crowe said modestly this week." ~ Adrian Chamberlain, Times Colonist (Canada)

"Bet you thought you heard all the versions you need to hear of this song, right? Think again, because Allison Crowe has a voice to fall in love with. She is from Vancouver Island in Canada, descended from Scottish, Irish, and Manx stock. She's exactly the sort of artist who can make serious headway on her own label and that's just what she's doing." ~ Record of the Day (UK)

"Hallelujah, by Leonard Cohen. This song has somehow become Crowe's signature, if a singer who defies description as stubbornly as she does has a signature... Cohen's original version is a spoken poem, all of the meaning contained in the words. Crowe's version is a living thing, a meditation and a celebration and a benediction." ~ anacronym (Canada)

"Crowe's warm, natural, passionate - and need I add lovely? - voice are perhaps shown to best effect on another glorious standard, Leonard Cohen's magnificent and deeply spiritual quest for faith, Hallelujah." ~ Martin Levin, Women's Post (Canada)

"j'ai rarement été bouleversée à ce point par une voix féminine. Pure comme de la glace, puissante et même violente sur la reprise de l'Hallelujah de Leonard Cohen." (en Francais - English translation follows) "I have never been so moved by a woman's voice. Pure as ice, powerful and even violent on the cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah." ~ SplinterMuse (France)

"(Jeff) Buckley especially just blew the song to pieces and every artist after him has tried and failed to put it back together. Until now. Allison Crowe manages to pump 'Hallelujah' full of all the soaring vocals and raw emotion that it requires. And the result is a big beautiful lump in the throat." ~ Muruch (USA) blog praises the Buckley and Crowe versions as very different, each great in its own way.

Allison's hometown covers the whole of Canada - from Nanaimo, Vancouver Island to Corner Brook, Newfoundland. It's a land rich with songs of glory, joy and rare, natural, beauty.

Matthew 7:13-14 [NIV]

Jesus calls out:

"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But narrow the road and small is the gate that leads to life . . ." Matthew 7:13-14 [NIV]

The Road Less Traveled by Robert Frost

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both - that morning - equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

by Robert Frost

Proverbs 20:30

Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,
As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.
[The New King James]

A good thrashing purges evil;
Punishment goes deep within us.
[The Message]

Listen to this passage[NIV]

View excellent commentary related to this passage!

How To Effect The Second Purification

CHAPTER VIII.
How to Effect This Second Purification

THE first inducement to attain this second purification is a keen and lively apprehension of the great evils resulting from sin, by means of which we acquire a deep, hearty contrition. For just as contrition, (so far as it is real,) however slight, when joined to the virtue of the Spiritual Disciplines, purges away sin; so, when it becomes strong and urgent, it purges away all the affections which cling around habits of sin.

A moderate, slight hatred makes men dislike its object and avoid his society; but when a violent, mortal hatred exists, they not only abhor and shun the person who excites it, but they loathe him, they cannot endure the approach of his relations or connexions, nor even his likeness or anything that concerns him.

Just so when a penitent only hates sin through a weakly although real contrition, he will resolve to avoid overt acts of sin; but when his contrition is strong and hearty, he will not merely abhor sin, but every affection, every link and tendency to sin.

Therefore it behoves us to kindle our contrition and repentance as much as we possibly can, so that it may reach even to the very smallest appearance of sin. Thus it was that the Magdalen, when converted, so entirely lost all taste for her past sin and its pleasures, that she never again cast back one thought upon them.

David declared that he hated not only sin itself, but every path and way which led thereto. This it is which is that “renewing of the soul” which the same Prophet compares to the eagle’s strength.
[Ps. 103:5]

Now, in order to attain this fear and this contrition, you must use the following meditations carefully;** for if you practise them stedfastly, they (by God’s Grace) will root out both sin and its affections from your heart. It is to that end that I have prepared them: do you use them one after another, in the order in which they come, only taking one each day, and using that as early as possible, for the morning is the best time for all spiritual exercises;—and then you will ponder and ruminate it through the day. If you have not as yet been taught how to meditate, you will find instructions to that purpose in the Second Part.

** Chapters XIV through XVIII

[Introduction to the Devout Life, by Saint Francis de Sales, edited by Wayne Anson]

The Second Critical Purification - St. Francis de Sales

CHAPTER VII. The Second Purification, Purification from all Sinful Affections

ALL the children of Israel went forth from the land of Egypt, but not all went forth heartily, and so, when wandering in the desert, some of them sighed after the leeks and onions,—the fleshpots of Egypt.

Even so there are penitents who forsake sin, yet without forsaking their sinful affections. That is to say, they intend to sin no more, but it goes sorely against them to abstain from the pleasures of sin.

They formally renounce and forsake sinful acts, but they turn back many a fond lingering look to what they have left, like Lot’s wife as she fled from Sodom. They are like a sick man who abstains from eating melon when the doctor says it would kill him, but who all the while longs for it, talks about it, bargains when he may have it, would at least like just to sniff the perfume, and thinks those who are free to eat of it very fortunate.

And so, in just the same way, these weak cowardly penitents abstain awhile from sin, but reluctantly;—they would fain be able to sin without incurring damnation;—they talk with a lingering taste of their sinful deeds, and envy those who are yet indulging in the like.

Thus a man who has meditated some revenge gives it up in confession, but soon after he is to be found talking about the quarrel, vowing that but for the fear of God he would do this or that; complaining that it is hard to keep the Divine rule of forgiveness; would to God it were lawful to avenge one’s self!

Who can fail to see that even if this poor man is not actually committing sin, he is altogether bound with the affections thereof, and although he may have come out of Egypt, he yet hungers after it, and longs for the leeks and onions he was wont to feed upon there!

It is the same with the woman who, though she has given up her life of sin, yet takes delight in being sought after and admired. Alas! of a truth, all such are in great peril.

If you seek to lead a devout life, you must not merely forsake sin; but you must further cleanse your heart from all affections pertaining to sin. For to say nothing of the danger of a relapse, these wretched affections will perpetually enfeeble your mind, and clog it, so that you will be unable to be diligent, ready and frequent in good works, wherein nevertheless lies the very essence of all true devotion.

Souls which, in spite of having forsaken sin, yet retain such likings and longings, remind us of those persons who, without being actually ill, are pale and sickly, languid in all they do, eating without appetite, sleeping without refreshment, laughing without mirth, dragging themselves about rather than walking briskly. Such souls as I have described lose all the grace of their good deeds, which are probably few and feeble, through their spiritual languor.

[Introduction to the Devout Life by Saint Francis de Sales, as edited by Wayne Anson]

Purity and Holiness - A Commentary

We are Urged Pursue Purity and Holiness.

Holy confidence in God as a Father, and awful fear of him as a Judge, agree together; and to regard God always as a Judge, makes him dear to us as a Father. If believers do evil, God will visit them with corrections. Then, let Christians not doubt God's faithfulness to his promises, nor give way to enslaving dread of his wrath, but let them reverence his holiness. The fearless professor is defenceless, and Satan takes him captive at his will; the desponding professor has no heart to avail himself of his advantages, and is easily brought to surrender.

The price paid for man's redemption was the precious blood of Christ.

Not only openly wicked, but also unprofitable conversation is highly dangerous, though it may plead custom. It is folly to resolve, "I will live and die in such a way, because my forefathers did so."

The soul must be purified, before it can give up its own desires and indulgences. And the word of God planted in the heart by the Holy Ghost, is a means of spiritual life, stirring up to our duty, working a total change in the dispositions and affections of the soul... .

In contrast with the excellence of the renewed spiritual man, as born again, observe the vanity of the natural man. In his life, and in his fall, he is like grass, the flower of grass, which soon withers and dies away. We should hear, and thus receive and love, the holy, living word, and rather hazard all than lose it; and we must banish all other things from the place due to it. We should lodge it in our hearts as our only treasures here, and the certain pledge of the treasure of glory laid up for believers in heaven.


Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary (Public Domain)

1 Peter 1:13-16

ON HOLINESS

So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, "I am holy; you be holy." [The Message]

. . . because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” [New King James Version]

The First Purification from Sin - St Francis de Sales (edited)

CHAPTER VI.
The First Purification, namely, from Mortal Sin.

THE first purification to be made is from sin; the means whereby to make it, confession and repentance. Seek the best confessor within your reach, use one of the many little books written in order to help the examination of conscience. Read some such book carefully, examining point by point wherein you have sinned, from the first use of your reason to the present time. And if you mistrust your memory, write down the result of your examination.

Having thus sought out the evil spots in your conscience, strive to detest them, and to reject them with the greatest abhorrence and contrition of which your heart is capable; bearing in mind these four things: 1. that by sin you have lost God’s Grace, 2. rejected your share in Paradise, 3. accepted the pains of Hell, and 1. renounced God’s Eternal Love.

You see, my child, that I am now speaking of a general confession of your whole life, which, while I grant it is not always necessary, I yet believe will be found most helpful in the beginning of your pursuit after holiness, and therefore I earnestly advise you to make it.

Not infrequently the ordinary confessions of persons leading an everyday life are full of great faults, and that because they make little or no preparation, and have not the needful contrition. Owing to this deficiency such people confess but with a tacit intention of returning to their old sins, inasmuch as they will not avoid the occasions of sin, or take the necessary measures for amendment of life, and in all such cases a general confession is required to steady and fix the soul.

But, furthermore, a general confession forces us to a clearer self-knowledge, kindles a wholesome shame for our past life, and rouses gratitude for God’s Mercy, which has so long waited patiently for us. For God’s Mercy comforts the heart, refreshes the spirit, excites good resolutions, affords opportunity to our spiritual Father for giving the most suitable advice, and opens our hearts so as to make future confessions more effectual.

Therefore I cannot enter into the subject of a general change of life and entire turning to God, by means of a devout life, without urging upon you to begin with a general confession.

(from Introduction To The Devout Life, by Saint Francis de Sales, with minor edits by Wayne Anson, Guided Reflections web master.)

NOTE: I, as a non-Catholic, find it a challenge to see the balanced approach to confession of sin presented here and to feel the importance, in our relationship with God, of the pursuit of holiness - a term quite out of fashion in Protestant circles today. It reminds me of the volume of exhortation to holiness found in scriptures and always presented with the utmost sense of urgency. May God grant us to rekindle that urgency of expressed love.

Hebrew 12:14

View commentary related to this passage

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

Hebrews 12:14

New King James Version (NKJV)

True Devotion - What is it!

CHAPTER I. What true Devotion is.

YOU aim at a devout life, dear child, because as a Christian you know that such devotion is most acceptable to Gods Divine Majesty. But seeing that the small errors people are wont to commit in the beginning of any under taking are apt to wax greater as they advance, and to become irreparable at last, it is most important that you should thoroughly understand wherein lies the grace of true devotion; and that because while there undoubtedly is such a true devotion, there are also many spurious and idle semblances thereof; and unless you know which is real, you may mistake, and waste your energy in pursuing an empty, profitless shadow.

Arelius was wont to paint all his pictures with the features and expression of the women he loved, and even so we all colour devotion according to our own likings and dispositions. One man sets great value on fasting, and believes himself to be leading a very devout life, so long as he fasts rigorously, although the while his heart is full of bitterness;â€"and while he will not moisten his lips with wine, perhaps not even with water, in his great abstinence, he does not scruple to steep them in his neighbour’s blood, through slander and detraction. Another man reckons himself as devout because he repeats many prayers daily, although at the same time he does not refrain from all manner of angry, irritating, conceited or insulting speeches among his family and neighbours. This man freely opens his purse in almsgiving, but closes his heart to all gentle and forgiving feelings towards those who are opposed to him; while that one is ready enough to forgive his enemies, but will never pay his rightful debts save under pressure. Meanwhile all these people are conventionally called religious, but nevertheless they are in no true sense really devout.

When Saul's servants sought to take David, Michal induced them to suppose that the lifeless figure lying in his bed, and covered with his garments, was the man they sought; and in like manner many people dress up an exterior with the visible acts expressive of earnest devotion, and the world supposes them to be really devout and spiritual-minded, while all the time they are mere lay figures, mere phantasms of devotion.

But, in fact, all true and living devotion presupposes the love of God; and indeed it is neither more nor less than a very real love of God, though not always of the same kind; for that Love one while shining on the soul we call grace, which makes us acceptable to His Divine Majesty; when it strengthens us to do well, it is called Charity; but when it attains its fullest perfection, in which it not only leads us to do well, but to act carefully, diligently, and promptly, then it is called Devotion.

The ostrich never flies, the hen rises with difficulty, and achieves but a brief and rare flight, but the eagle, the dove, and the swallow, are continually on the wing, and soar high; even so sinners do not rise towards God, for all their movements are earthly and earthbound. Well-meaning people, who have not as yet attained a true devotion, attempt a manner of flight by means of their good actions, but rarely, slowly and heavily; while really devout men rise up to God frequently, and with a swift and soaring wing.

In short, devotion is simply a spiritual activity and liveliness by means of which Divine Love works in us, and causes us to work briskly and lovingly; and just as charity leads us to a general practice of all God's Commandments, so devotion leads us to practise them readily and diligently. And therefore we cannot call him who neglects to observe all God's Commandments either good or devout, because in order to be good, a man must be filled with love, and to be devout, he must further be very ready and apt to perform the deeds of love. And for as much as devotion consists in a high degree of real love, it not only makes us ready, active, and diligent in following all God's Commands, but it also excites us to be ready and loving in performing as many good works as possible, even such as are not enjoined upon us, but are only matters of counsel or inspiration.

Even as a man just recovering from illness, walks only so far as he is obliged to go, with a slow and weary step, so the converted sinner journeys along as far as God commands him but slowly and wearily, until he attains a true spirit of devotion, and then, like a sound man, he not only gets along, but he runs and leaps in the way of God's Commands, and hastens gladly along the paths of heavenly counsels and inspirations.

The difference between love and devotion is just that which exists between fire and flame; love being a spiritual fire which becomes devotion when it is fanned into a flame; and what devotion adds to the fire of love is that flame which makes it eager, energetic and diligent, not merely in obeying God's Commandments, but in fulfilling His Divine Counsels and inspirations.

A Scripture Prayer - Isaiah 64:5-7

Isaiah 64:5-7 (New International Version)

You come to the help of those

who gladly do right,

who remember your ways.

But when we continued to sin against them,

you were angry.

How then can we be saved?

All of us have become

like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous acts

are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf,

and like the wind

our sins sweep us away.

No one calls on your name

or strives to lay hold of you; f

or you have hidden your face from us

and made us waste away

because of our sins.

Reflection On Sin

CHAPTER XII. FOURTH MEDITATION.

On Sin.

Preparation.

1. PLACE yourself in the Presence of God.
2. Ask Him to inspire your heart.

Considerations.

1. Consider how long it is since you first began to commit sin, and how since that first beginning sin has multiplied in your heart; how every day has added to the number of your sins against God, against yourself and against your neighbour, by deed, word, thought and desire.
2. Consider your evil tendencies, and how far you have followed them. These two points will show you that your sins are more in number than the hairs of your head, or the sand on the seashore.
3. Apart from sin, consider your ingratitude towards God, which is in itself a sin enfolding all the others, and adding to their enormity: consider the gifts which God has given you, and which you have turned against the Giver; especially the inspirations you have neglected, and the promptings to good which you have frustrated. Review the many Sacraments you have received, and see where are their fruits. Where are the precious jewels wherewith your Heavenly Bridegroom decked you? with what preparation have you received them? Reflect upon the ingratitude with which, while God sought to save you, you have fled from Him and rushed upon destruction.

Affections and Resolutions.

1. Humble yourself in your wretchedness. O my God, how dare I come before Thine Eyes? I am but a corrupt being, a very sink of ingratitude and wickedness. Can it be that I have been so disloyal, that not one sense, not one faculty but has been sullied and stained; not one day has passed but I have sinned before Thee? Was this a fitting return for all my Creator gifts, for my Redeemer Blood?
2. Ask pardon; throw yourself at the Lord Feet as the prodigal son, as the Magdalene, as the woman convicted of adultery. Have mercy, Lord, on me a sinner! O Living Fountain of Mercy, have pity on me, unworthy as I am.
3. Resolve to do better. Lord, with the help of Thy Grace I will never again give myself up to sin. I have loved it too well; henceforth I would abhor it and cleave to Thee. Father of Mercy, I would live and die to Thee.
4. In order to put away past sin, accuse yourself bravely of it, let there not be one sinful act which you do not bring to light.
5. Resolve to make every effort to tear up the roots of sin from your heart, especially this and that individual sin which troubles you most.
6. In order to do this, resolve steadfastly to follow the advice given you, and never think that you have done enough to atone for your past sin.

Conclusion.

1. Thank God for having waited till now for you, and for rousing these good intentions in your heart.
2. Offer Him all your heart to carry them to good effect.
3. Pray that He would strengthen you.

by Saint Francis de Sales

Devotion The Necessary Starting Point For Holiness Of Life

As I trust you will with all blanket statements and formulas, please hold this declaration, "Devotion The Necessary Starting Point For Holiness Of Life" very lightly.

Devotions is certainly a necessary state to pursuit of holiness of life. However, the factors which birth devotion in us are of equal, perhaps greater, importance.

Such precursors as abhorring sin (yes, I meant that strength in language for it represents more than hating sin and precious few of us hate our own sin though perchance we may hate another person's sin), being completely overwhelmed by the love of God, by awareness of His daily unmeasured practice of grace toward us individually, by the cost/price, value/worth, to Jesus and God to pay for even the smallest, most ignored, hidden of our sins are prerequisites or at least attendant conditions for devotion to the pursuit of holiness.

As you can see, I make no claim of completeness toward this topic of reflection, but I do invite you to join in prayer that God bring us to understanding and practice of the Holiness without which no man shall see God. For I am well aware that while righteousness is imputed then practiced, holiness is never imputed. It is not a cover placed over our sin. It is a replacement or it is not present in our lives.

Wayne M. Anson, Micah 6:8

Matthew 6:14b KJV

It Is Actually An Answer To Prayer!

" . . . deliver us from evil. "

Hebrews 12:7-10 NIV

Listen to this passage

vs.7-10 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

Hebrews 12:4-11 MSG

In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either. It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

2 Timothy 1:12 NKJV

. . . nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

If You Are Judged In This Life - REJOICE !!

(Highlighted and underlined words, except ALL, are links.)

Because He is able to keep that which You (I) have committed unto Him against that Day.
* * *
Often God's judgment of a Believer in this life is actually a delivery from sin.

* *
Sometimes it is a revelation of a weakness
That left unnoticed would bring greater harm and shame later.
*

Remember ALL in this life is Jesus
Providing for You (I)
White linen bright and clean.
-

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

He Is Able ! (Revelation 5:5)

"Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able ... ." New International Version (NIV)

HE IS ABLE !!

Do Not Weep!!

See !!!

The Lion of Judah, the Root of David

Has Triumphed !!!

Jesus Priority In Your Conversation:

Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat—I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I'm leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn't, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God." Luke 9: 23-27 -The Message (MSG)

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Luke 9:25 - NIV

Jesus Priority In Your Calendar:

Does Jesus rank 2nd to ____________?

Jesus Priority In Your Checkbook:

If He doesn't show up in your checkbook He doesn't show up at all. (Pastor Neely)

Phillipians 2:5-10

Listen to this passage

vs.5-10: Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth ...

New International Version (NIV)
________________________________

The Message (MSG)

vs. 5-8: Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death and the worst kind of death at that a crucifixion.

Phillipians 1:18-21

WHERE DOES JESUS FIT IN YOUR PRIORITIES!

vs. 20: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
(The New International Version)

vs. 18-21: So how am I to respond? I've decided that I really don't care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!

And I'm going to keep that celebration going because I know how it's going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don't expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn't shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dead, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose. (The Message)

HOW MUCH OF YOUR LIVING IS REALLY FOR CHRIST? WALKING WITH CHRIST?

He Is Able !!! [Jude 24-25 NIV]

Listen to this passage

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

He Is Able !! [Jude 24-25 MSG]

The Message:

And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time.

Yes.

He Is Able ! [Jude 24-25 AMP]

Amplified Bible:

Now to Him Who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present [you] unblemished (blameless and faultless) before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight] -- to the one only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory (splendor), majesty, might and dominion, and power and authority, before all time and now and forever (unto all the ages of eternity).

Amen (so be it).

He Is Able ! [Ephesians 3:20-21 MSG]

The Message

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

He does it not by

pushing us around but by working within us,

his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!

Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!

Glory down all the generations!

Glory through all millennia!

Oh, yes!

He Is Able ! (Ephesians 3:20)

New International Version:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us . . .

Listen to this passage

* * *

Amplified Bible:

Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]--

He Is Able !!

He Is Able to -
Change You !
He Is Able to -
Keep You !!
He Is Able to -
Supply You !!!
He Is Able To -

Use You !!!!